View source for Aphrodisias

{{Short description|Ancient Roman city in Geyre, Aydın, Turkey}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Aphrodisias
  |native_name = Ἀφροδισιάς
  |alternate_name = 
  |image = [[File:The Temple of Aphrodite, built in the Ionic order in stages during the Roman period (from 1st century BC to 2nd century AD) and later converted into a Christian basilica, Aphrodisias, Caria, Turkey (20300922019).jpg|270px]]
  |alt =
  |caption = Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias
  |map_type = Turkey
  |relief = yes
  |map_alt = 
  |map_caption =
  |map_size = 270
  |coordinates = {{coord|37|42|30|N|28|43|25|E|display=inline,title}}
  |location = [[Geyre]], [[Aydın Province]], [[Turkey]]
  |region = [[Caria]]
  |type = Settlement
  |part_of = 
  |length = 
  |width = 
  |area = 
  |height = 
  |builder = 
  |material = 
  |built = 
  |abandoned = 
  |epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" -->
  |cultures = [[Greeks|Greek]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]
  |dependency_of = 
  |occupants = [[Alexander of Aphrodisias]], [[Chariton]]
  |event = 
  |excavations = 1904–1905, 1962–present
  |archaeologists = Paul Augustin Gaudin, [[Kenan Erim]], Christopher Ratté, [[R. R. R. Smith]]
  |condition = 
  |ownership = 
  |management = 
  |public_access = Yes
  |website = [https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?SectionId=AFR01&DistId=AFR Aphrodisias Archaeological Site]
  |notes = 
  {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site 
  | child       = yes
  | ID          = 1519
  | Year        = 2017
  | Criteria    = Cultural: ii, iii, iv, vi
  | Area        = 152.25 ha
  | Buffer_zone = 1,040.57 ha 
  | Includes    = Archaeological Site of Aphrodisias and Ancient Marble Quarries 
  }}
}}
[[File:MapaTopográficoDeAsiaMenor-Caria.png|thumb|300px|Ancient cities of [[Caria]]|alt=Map of ancient cities of Caria]]

'''Aphrodisias''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|f|r|ə|ˈ|d|ɪ|s|i|ə|s}};{{refn|{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Aphrodisias |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322183943/https://www.lexico.com/definition/aphrodisias |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 March 2020 |title=Aphrodisias |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}} }} {{langx|grc|Ἀφροδισιάς|Aphrodisiás}}) was a [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]] Greek city in the historic [[Caria]] cultural region of western [[Asia Minor]], today's [[Anatolia]] in [[Turkey]]. It is located near the modern village of [[Geyre]], about {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} east/inland from the coast of the [[Aegean Sea]], and {{convert|230|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of [[İzmir]].

Aphrodisias was named after ''[[Aphrodite]]'', the Greek [[goddess]] of love, who had here her unique [[cult image]], the ''Aphrodite of Aphrodisias''. According to the [[Suda]], a Byzantine encyclopedic compilation, before the city became known as Aphrodisias ({{circa|3rd century BC}}) it had three previous Greek names: ''Lelégōn Pólis'' (Λελέγων πόλις, "City of the [[Leleges]]"),<ref>For Greeks, "[[Leleges]]" denoted an ancient pre-Greek people.</ref> ''Megálē Pólis'' (Μεγάλη Πόλις, "Great City"), and ''Ninó''ē (Νινόη).<ref>Pleiades s.v. 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/ (accessed 7 August 2021); see ''Suda Online'' s.v. Ninoe, [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?searchstr=nu+416] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125246/http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?searchstr=nu+416|date=24 September 2015}} (accessed 25 December 2006); the elite of Aphrodisias linked their founding to the Assyrian ruler called in Greek [[Ninus]], the eponymous founder also of [[Nineveh]].</ref>

Sometime before 640, in the [[Late Antiquity|Late Antique]] period when it was within the [[Byzantine Empire]], the city was renamed ''Stauropolis'' (Σταυρούπολις, "City of the Cross").<ref name="cath">Siméon Vailhé, "Stauropolis" ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', 1912 [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14283b.htm full text], citing [[Heinrich Gelzer]], ''Ungedruckte ... Texte der Notitiæ episcopatuum'', 534. The name ''Tauropolis'', said to have been borne by the town prior to that of Stauropolis, is an error of several scholars, ''e.g.'' ''Revue des études grecques'' '''19''':228-30; the error 'Tauropolis' derives from inscription [http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/inscription/eAla022.html IAph 42]: see discussion by Roueché at [http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/narrative/sec-VI.html#VI.48 ALA VI.48]</ref>

In 2017, it was inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey|World Heritage Site]] list.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/newproperties/|title=New Inscribed Properties|first=UNESCO World Heritage|last=Centre|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

==History==

Aphrodisias was the metropolis (provincial capital) of the region and [[Roman province]] of [[Caria]].<ref name ="ODB">{{ODB|last=Foss|first=Clive|title=Aphrodisias|page=128}}</ref>

White and blue-grey Carian marble was extensively quarried from adjacent slopes in the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] periods, for building [[facade]]s and [[sculpture]]s.{{cn|date=January 2025}} [[Marble sculpture]]s and sculptors from Aphrodisias became famous in the Roman world. Many examples of statuary have been unearthed in Aphrodisias, and some representations of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias also survive from other parts of the Roman world, as far afield as [[Beja, Portugal|Pax Julia in Lusitania]].<ref>Peter Noelke, "Zwei unbekännte Repliken der Aphrodite von Aphrosias in Köln" ''Arkäologischer Anzeiger'' '''98'''.1:107-31.</ref>

The city had notable schools for sculpture, as well as philosophy, remaining a centre of [[Ancient Greek religion|paganism]] until the end of the 5th century.<ref name ="ODB"/> It was destroyed by earthquake in the early 7th century, and never recovered its former prosperity, being reduced to a small fortified settlement on the site of the ancient theatre.<ref name ="ODB"/> Around the same time, it was also renamed to ''Stauropolis'' ({{langx|el|Σταυροῡπολις}}, "city of the Cross") to remove pagan connotations, but already by the 8th century it was known as ''Caria'' after the region, which later gave rise to its modern Turkish name, Geyre.<ref name ="ODB"/><ref name="DOAKS">{{Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art|volume=2|chapter=Karia/Stauropolis|pages=167–169}}</ref> In Byzantine times, the city was the seat of a fiscal administrative unit (''dioikesis'').<ref name="DOAKS"/>

Aphrodisias was sacked again by the rebel [[Theodore Mankaphas]] in 1188, and then by the [[Seljuk Turks]] in 1197. It finally fell under Turkish control towards the end of the 13th century.<ref name ="ODB"/>

===Geological history===
The site is in an [[Fault (geology)|earthquake zone]] and has suffered a great deal of damage at various times, especially in severe tremors of the 4th and 7th centuries.{{cn|date=January 2025}} An added complication was that one of the 4th century earthquakes altered the water table, making parts of the town prone to [[flood]]ing. Evidence can be seen of emergency [[plumbing]] installed to combat this problem.

The city of Aphrodisias never fully recovered from the 7th century earthquake, and fell into disrepair. Part of the town was covered by the modern village of [[Geyre]]; some of the cottages were removed in the 20th century to reveal the older city. A new Geyre has been built a short distance away.

===Ecclesiastical history===
{{main|Stauropolis (diocese)}}
[[Le Quien]] (''Oriens christianus'', I, 899–904) mentions twenty bishops of this see. In the 7th century Stauropolis had twenty-eight [[suffragan]] bishops and twenty-six at the beginning of the 10th century.

Stauropolis is also a [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[titular metropolitan see]], under the name ''Stauropoli'' (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Stauropolitana'').<ref>{{Catholic-hierarchy|diocese|d3s58|Stauropolis|21 January 2015}}</ref>

==Buildings and structures==
[[File:Aphrodisias - Tetrapylon 04.jpg|thumb|The monumental gateway or [[tetrapylon]]]]

===Monumental gateway===

A monumental gateway, or [[tetrapylon]], stands at the end of a road that leads from the main north–south street of the town into a large forecourt in front of the [[Sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphrodisias]]. The gateway was built ca. AD 200.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

===Temple of Aphrodite===
{{main|Sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphrodisias}}
[[File:Afrodisias 408.jpg|thumb|left|The Temple of Aphrodite]]
The [[Sanctuary of Aphrodite Aphrodisias|Temple of Aphrodite]] was a focal point of the town.  The Aphrodisian sculptors became renowned and benefited from a plentiful supply of marble close at hand.  The school of sculpture was very productive;<ref>Kenan T. Erim, "The school of Aphrodisias, " ''Archaeology'' '''20'''.1:18-27.</ref> much of their work can be seen around the site and in the [[Aphrodisias Museum]]. Many full-length statues were discovered in the region of the [[agora]], and trial and unfinished pieces pointing to a true school are in evidence. [[Sarcophagi]] were recovered in various locations, most frequently decorated with designs consisting of [[festoons]] and columns. [[Pilaster]]s have been found showing what are described as "peopled scrolls" with figures of people, birds and animals entwined in [[Acanthus (ornament)|acanthus]] leaves.

The character of the temple building was altered when it became a Christian [[basilica]].  The building is believed to have been dismantled in c. 481–484 by order of [[Zeno (emperor)|Emperor Zeno]], because the temple had been the focus of Pagan Hellenic opposition against Zeno in Aphrodisias, in support of Illus, who had promised to restore Hellenic rites, which had been suppressed during the [[Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire]], to the temples that were still standing.<ref>Trombley, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=HZefAwAAQBAJ&dq=statue+allat-athena&pg=PA145 Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529]''</ref>

===Bouleuterion===
[[File:Aphrodisias bouleuterion 4519.jpg|thumb|left|The Bouleuterion served as the meeting place of the city's administrative council (the [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule]]), and as a multi-purpose indoor theatre, concert hall and assembly space.]]
The [[Bouleuterion]] (council house), or [[Odeon (building)|Odeon]], is centered on the north side of the North Agora. As it stands today, it consists of a semicircular auditorium fronted by a shallow stage structure about 46&nbsp;m wide. The lower part of the auditorium survives intact, with nine rows of marble seats divided into five wedges by radial stairways. The seating of the upper part, amounting to an additional twelve rows, has collapsed together with its supporting vaults. The plan is an extremely open one, with numerous entrances at ground level and several stairways giving access to the upper rows of seats. A system of massive parallel buttresses shows that the building was originally vaulted. The auditorium would have been lighted by a series of tall, arched windows in the curved outer wall. [[Seating capacity]] is estimated at 1,750.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The available evidence indicates a construction date in the Antonine or early Severan period (late 2nd or early 3rd century AD). The ''[[scaenae frons]]'' (stage front) was certainly put up at this time, as the style of both sculpture and architectural ornament suggest. Statue bases terminating the retaining walls of the auditorium bore the names of two brothers, senators in the early Severan period, and two inscribed bases placed symmetrically against the exterior facade held statues of Aphrodisian benefactors, Claudia Antonia Tatiana and her uncle Lucius Antonius Dometinus, who were active at the end of the 2nd century.<ref>''Sculptures of the Bouleuterion''.<!--unidentifiable incomplete reference--></ref> Tatiana is known to have had close ties with [[Ephesus]], and it is possible that the striking similarities between this building and the bouleuterion on the civic agora there, dated by inscription to the mid-2nd century, are due to some initiative on her part. We do not know what stood here before the 2nd century AD, but it is likely that the present building replaced a smaller one contemporary with the laying out of the agora in the late 1st century BC.

The bouleuterion at Aphrodisias remained in this form until the early 5th century, when a municipal official had it adapted as a ''[[palaestra]]'', recording his achievement in an inscription on the upper molding of the ''pulpitum'' (stage). ''Palaestra'' usually refers to a wrestling ground, but in the 5th century it could be used to describe a hall for lectures, performances, and various kinds of competitive displays, as suggested by a number of factional inscriptions carved on the seats. Numerous additional cuttings in the surviving seats, probably for poles supporting awnings, suggest that by this time the building had lost its roof. The [[Theatre of ancient Greece#Orchestra|orchestra]] was lowered and provided with a marble pavement, reused, perhaps, from the earlier phase.<ref>The architecture of the Bouleuterion is examined by Lionel Bier, ''"The Bouleuterion at Aphrodisias"'', ''Aphrodisias Papers'' '''4'''</ref>

===Sebasteion===
[[File:Afrodisias_-_Sebastión_-_Sebasteion.jpg|thumb|left|The Sebasteion]]
The Sebasteion,<ref>''Sebastós'' is the Greek equivalent of Latin ''[[Augustus]]''.</ref> or [[Augusteum]], was jointly dedicated, according to a 1st-century inscription on its [[Propylaea|propylon]], "To Aphrodite, the Divine Augusti and the People". A relief found in the ruins of the south portico represented a personification of the ''[[polis]]'' making sacrifice to the [[cult image]] of Aphrodite of Aphrodisias, venerated as ''promētōr'' ("foremother" or "ancestral mother"). "Aphrodite represents the cosmic force that integrates imperial power with the power of local elites", a reader of [[Chariton]] romance has noted.<ref>Douglas R. Edwards notes in, "Defining the Web of Power in Asia Minor: The Novelist Chariton and His City Aphrodisias" ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'' '''62'''.3 (Autumn 1994:699-718) p. 711.</ref> This connection between the goddess and the imperial house was also a particularly politic one at the time, as the [[Gens Julia]] – the family of Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, and their immediate successors – claimed divine descent from Venus/Aphrodite.

[[File:The stadium, Aphrodisias, Turkey (16911544529).jpg|thumb|The stadium]]

===Stadium===
The stadium was used for athletic events until the theatre was badly damaged by a 7th-century earthquake, requiring part of the stadium to be converted for events previously staged in the theatre.

The stadium measures<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.nyu.edu/projects/aphrodisias/home.ti.htm
 |title=New York University, Aphrodisias Excavations website
 |work=Stadium
 |access-date=26 December 2011
}}</ref> approximately {{convert|270|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}}. With 30 rows of seats on each side, and around each end, it would have had a maximum capacity for around 30,000 spectators. The track measures approximately {{convert|225|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}}.

As the stadium is considerably larger and structurally more extensive than even the [[Stadium of Delphi]], it is probably one of the best preserved structures of its kind in the [[Mediterranean]].

==Other finds==
===Archaeology===
The first formal excavations were undertaken in 1904–5, by a French railroad engineer, Paul Augustin Gaudin. Some of the architectural finds (mostly friezes, pilasters and capitals) he discovered at the site are now in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection|title=Collection|website=The British Museum|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

The most recent, ongoing excavations were begun by [[Kenan Erim]] under the aegis of [[New York University]] in 1962 and are currently led by Professor [[R. R. R. Smith]] (at [[Oxford University]]) and Professor Katharine Welch of the NYU Institute of Fine Arts. The findings reveal that the lavish building programme in the city's civic center was initiated and largely funded by one Gaius Julius Zoilos, a local who was a slave of [[Julius Caesar|Gaius Julius Caesar]], set free by [[Octavian]].<ref>R. R. R. Smith, "The Monument of C. Julius Zoilos" ''Aphrodisias Papers'' '''2''' R. R. R. Smith, K. T. Erim (eds) 1993.</ref> When Zoilos returned as a [[freedman]] to his native city, endowed with prestige and rich rewards for his service, he shrewdly directed it to align with Octavian in his power struggle against [[Mark Antony]]. This ensured Octavian's lasting favor in the form of financial privileges that allowed the city to prosper.

In September 2014, drones were used to 3D map the above-ground ruins of Aphrodisias. The data is being analysed by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Vienna.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Hudson|first1=Hal|title=Air-chaeological drones search for ancient treasures|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329883.900-airchaeological-drones-search-for-ancient-treasures.html#.VC1hk_ldV8E|access-date=2 October 2014|issue=2988|magazine=New Scientist|date=24 September 2014}}</ref>

In March 2018, an ancient tomb has been unearthed in an area where illegal excavations were carried out. The tomb was taken to the [[Aphrodisias Museum]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-tomb-found-in-illegal-excavations-in-aydin-129853|title=Ancient tomb found in illegal excavations in Aydın|date=5 April 2018|newspaper=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

In 2020, two [[sarcophagi]] were found in an olive grove. There was a relief of [[Medusa]] on one of the sarcophagi.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/treasure-hunters-unearth-2-500-year-old-history-159844|title=Treasure hunters unearth 2,500-year-old history|date=9 November 2020|newspaper=[[Hürriyet Daily News]]|access-date=18 June 2023}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">

File:The_Roman_theatre,_built_in_the_second_half_of_the_1st_century_BC_on_the_eastern_slope_of_the_acropolis,_Aphrodisias,_Caria,_Turkey_(18524445015).jpg|The Roman Theater (north)
File:Aphrodisias,_stone_heads.jpg|Aphrodisias Stone heads
File:Aphrodisias - Baths of Hadrian 01.jpg|Baths of Hadrianus
File:Aphrodisias,_sarcophagi.jpg|Sarcophagi on site
File:Aphrodisias Tetrastoon Theatre fringe 4430.jpg|Aphrodisias Tetrastoon
File:Aphrodisias South agora and pool 056.jpg|South agora and pool
</gallery>

===Inscriptions===
The quality of the marble in Aphrodisias has resulted in an unusually large number of inscribed items surviving in the city.
As many pieces of monumental quarried stone were reused in the Late Antique city walls, many inscriptions could and can be easily read without any excavation; the city has therefore been visited and its inscriptions recorded repeatedly in modern times, starting from the early 18th century.

Upwards of 2000 [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]] have been recorded by excavators under the aegis of New York University. Many of these inscriptions had been re-used in the city walls. Most inscriptions are from the Imperial period, with funerary and honorary texts being particularly well represented, but there are a handful of texts from all periods from the Hellenistic to Byzantine. A set of documents, aimed at portraying the grandeur and history of the city, was included in so-called [[Archival Wall of Aphrodisias|"Archival Wall"]].

Excavations in Aphrodisias have also uncovered an important Jewish inscription whose context is unclear. The inscription, in Greek, lists donations made by numerous individuals, of whom several are classed as 'theosebeis', or [[Godfearers]].<ref>Published by J. M. Reynolds and R. F. Tannenbaum, ''Jews and Godfearers at Aphrodisias'', Cambridge Philological Society Supplementary Volume 12, (Cambridge, 1987)</ref> It seems clear through comparative evidence from the inscriptions in the [[Sardis]] synagogue and from the [[New Testament]] that such Godfearers were probably interested [[gentiles]] who attached themselves to the Jewish community, supporting and perhaps frequenting the synagogue. The geographical spread of the evidence suggests this was a widespread phenomenon in Asia Minor during the Roman period.

===Frieze===
A [[frieze]] discovered in 1980 showing a bare breasted and helmeted female warrior labelled <small>[[Britannia|BRITANNIA]]</small> writhing in agony under the knee of a Roman soldier with to the left and below the inscription <small>[[Claudius|TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS CAESAR]]</small> is assumed to depict Britain subjugated by Rome.<ref>''Roman Britain'' By Timothy W. Potter and Catherine Johns, University of California Press, 1992 p. 40</ref>

==Aphrodite of Aphrodisias==
[[File:Afrodite of Aphrodisias - Cult Image.jpg|thumb|upright|The Aphrodite of Aphrodisias]]
The [[cult image]] that is particular to Aphrodisias, the ''Aphrodite of Aphrodisias'', doubtless was once housed in the Temple of Aphrodite.<ref>This section follows the dissertation by Lisa R. Brody, under the direction of Christopher Ratté, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030923074738/http://www.geocities.com/lisa_brody/diss.htm "The Iconography and Cult of the Aphrodite of Aphrodisias"]; her upcoming book will present a catalogue of all surviving images.</ref> She was a distinctive local goddess who became, by ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'', identified with the Greek Aphrodite. Her canonical image, typical of Anatolian cult images, shows that she is related to the ''Lady of Ephesus'',<ref>Lisa Brody notes other images of similar formula: the [[Perge|Artemis of Perge]], the [[Clarus|Artemis of Claros]], the [[Sardis|Kore of Sardis]], [[Labraunda|Zeus Labraundeus]], and [[Baalbek|Jupiter Heliopolitanus of Baalbek]].</ref> widely venerated in the Greco-Roman world as [[Temple of Artemis|Artemis of Ephesus]].

The surviving images, from contexts where they must have been more civic than ritual, are without exception from the late phase of the cult, in Hellenistic and Roman times. They are rendered in the naturalistic style common to their culture, which gave the local goddess more universal appeal.<ref>Lisa Brody suggests the refounding of Artemisias as a Greek ''[[polis]]'' about the second century BCE as a possible context for the recreation in Hellenistic terms of a postulated archaic image.</ref>    Like the Lady of Ephesus, the "Aphrodite" of Aphrodisia wears a thick, form-disguising tunic, encasing her as if in a columnar box, always with four registers of standardized imagery. Her feet are of necessity close together, her forearms stretched forward, to receive and to give. She is adorned with necklaces and wears a [[mural crown]]<ref>In the third century BCE, artists began to place a mural crown on images of the goddess [[Cybele]], who had been represented since [[History of the Hittites|Hittite]] times with a cylindrical ''[[polos]]''. The Artemis of Ephesus also wears a mural crown in Hellenistic-Roman images; such a substitution is likely also for the reinterpretation of the Lady of Aphrodisias.</ref> together with a [[diadem]] and a [[wreath]] of [[Myrtus communis|myrtle]], draped with a long veil that frames her face and extends to the ground. Beneath her overtunic she wears a floor-length ''[[Chiton (costume)|chiton]]''.

The bands of decoration on the tunic, rendered in [[bas-relief]], evoke the Goddess's cosmic powers: the [[Charites]], the Three Graces that are the closest attendants of Aphrodite; heads of a married pair (the woman is veiled), identified by Lisa Brody as [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] and [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranos]], Earth and the Heavens, over which this goddess reigns, rather than as [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]]; [[Helios]] and [[Selene]] separated by a pillar; the marine Aphrodite,<ref>The marine Aphrodite, known to Greeks as ''Aphrodite Pelagia'', to Romans as ''Venus Marina'', is not elsewhere represented riding the sea-goat.</ref> riding a [[Capricornus|sea-goat]], and at the base a group of [[Erotes (Mythology)|Erotes]] performing cult rituals.

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Relief_image_of_Aphrodite_of_Aphrodisias,_dedicated_by_Theodoros,_from_the_theatre,_2nd-3rd_century_AD,_Aphrodisias_Museum,_Turkey_(17194881282).jpg|Aphrodite of Aphrodisias originated in the Archaic period or earlier as a local Carian goddess
File:Marble_head_of_a_goddess,_found_in_the_Hadrianic_Baths,_2nd_century_AD,_Aphrodisias_Museum_(16993498327).jpg|Marble head of a goddess, found in the Hadrianic Baths, 2nd century AD
File:Relief_depicting_the_birth_of_Aphrodite_(Aphrodite_Anadyomene),_Aphrodisias_Museum,_Turkey_(19868596734).jpg|Relief depicting the birth of Aphrodite (Aphrodite Anadyomene), [[Aphrodisias Museum]]
File:4542_-_Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Donna_-_sec._II_d.C._-_da_Afrodisia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006.jpg|Unknown Roman matrona, 2nd century AD. from Aphrodisias, now presented in [[Istanbul Archaeological Museum]]
File:Museum_of_Aphrodisias_Sevgi_Gönül_Hall.jpg|[[Aphrodisias Museum]] Sevgi Gönül Hall. This hall contains items from the Sebasteion structure
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Alexander of Aphrodisias]]
*[[Chariton]], whose novel ''Chaereas and Callirhoe'' reflects the power structure of Aphrodisias in the 1st-2nd century
*[[List of World Heritage Sites in Turkey]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
;Sources
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Stauropolis}} [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14283b.htm] (Late Antique and Ecclesiastical History)

== Further reading ==
*Foss, C., S. Mitchell, et al. (2007), 'Aphrodisias/Ninoe', http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/638753/.
*Erim, Kenan T., "Aphrodisias, Awakened City Of Ancient Art", [[National Geographic Magazine]], 1972, June.
*Erim, Kenan T., "Aphrodisias", Net Turistik Yayinlar A.S. (Istanbul, 1990).
*Erim, Kenan T., ''Aphrodisias: City of Venus Aphrodite'' (New York: Facts on File, 1986).
*Joukowsky, Martha Sharp, ''Pre-Historic Aphrodisias'' (Université Catholique de Louvain 1996) available at https://web.archive.org/web/20080709045224/http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/6582/Location/DBBC 
*L. Herbert, "Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Aphrodisias," in Calvin B. Kendall, Oliver Nicholson, William D. Phillips Jr., Marguerite Ragnow (eds.), ''Conversion to Christianity from Late Antiquity to the Modern Age: Considering the Process in Europe, Asia, and the Americas'' (Minneapolis: Center for Early Modern History, 2009) (Minnesota Studies in Early Modern History).
*MacDonald, David, ''The Coinage of Aphrodisias'' (London: Royal Numismatic Society, 1992)
*Oxford University, Aphrodisias Excavations website, available: http://aphrodisias.classics.ox.ac.uk/ (formerly at [https://web.archive.org/web/20120424211710/http://www.nyu.edu/projects/aphrodisias/home.ti.htm NYU Institute of Fine Arts] (Web Archive))
*Ratté, Christopher and R. R. R. Smith (eds), ''Aphrodisias papers 4: new research on the city and its monuments'' (Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology, 2008) (JRA supplementary series, 70).
*[[Joyce Reynolds (classicist)|Reynolds, Joyce]], [[Charlotte Roueché]] and Gabriel Bodard (2007), ''Inscriptions of Aphrodisias'', available http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/iaph2007, {{ISBN|978-1-897747-19-3}}
*Roueché, Charlotte (2004), ''Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity: The Late Roman and Byzantine Inscriptions, revised second edition'', available: http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004, {{ISBN|1-897747-17-9}}
*Roueche, Charlotte, Erim, Kenan T. (edd.) (1991), ''Aphrodisias Papers: Recent Work on Architecture and Sculpture'', Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series.
*{{cite journal |last1=Welch |first1=Katherine |title=The Stadium at Aphrodisias |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=1998 |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=547–569 |doi=10.2307/506401 |jstor=506401 |s2cid=192950250 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/506401 |issn=0002-9114|url-access=subscription }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Aphrodisias}}
{{wikivoyage|Aphrodisias}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170825085258/http://www.muze.gov.tr/tr/muzeler/afrodisyas-aphrodisias-orenyeri Afrodisyas (Aphrodisias) Örenyeri] — official website
*[http://thewotme.com/2012/12/aphrodisias-y-la-diosa-griega-del-amor/ Aphrodisias, the Greek goddess of love]
*[http://insaph.kcl.ac.uk/ala2004/index.html Inscriptions found in Aphrodisias]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100118134029/http://www.aphrodisias.info/english/ Aphrodisias]
*[https://ancient-anatolia.blogspot.com/2011/02/sebasteion-aphrodisias-school-of.html Sebasteion: Aphrodisias School of Sculpture]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120430103719/http://www.turizm.net/cities/aphrodisias/ Monuments of Aphrodisias], summarised by Turizm.net, a Turkish travel guide
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050208014533/http://www.armory.com/~turkiye/turkey/ege/aphrodisias/aphrodisiashist.html History of Aphrodisias, birth place of the goddess of love]
*[http://www.aphrodisias.org.uk/index.html The English Friends of Aphrodisias]
*Images:
**[http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/aphrodisias 370 pictures of the site and its museum]
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20120315065307/http://www.sailturkey.com/panoramas/aphrodisias/ Virtual Tours of Aphrodisias]
**[http://turkishtravelblog.com/aphrodisias-turkey-museum-antique-city/ Photos from Aphrodisias - 2015]
**[https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Aphrodisias%20(Turkey) Photos of Aphrodisias] at the [[American Center of Research]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0N01dQOpoQ Drone footage of the ancient city from July 2022]

{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Turkey}}

[[Category:Aphrodisias| ]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the Aegean region]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Caria]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Aphrodite]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Aydın Province]]
[[Category:History of Aydın Province]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Aydın Province]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Karacasu District]]